(PRESS RELEASE / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
EDUCATION TODAY … Rotarian and Four County Career Center Superintendent Jeff Slattery presented the program at the March 28 Archbold Rotary meeting. He talked about the changing look of what was once called “vocational education” to what now focuses on career education as part of workforce development.
PRESS RELEASE – Four County Career Center superintendent Jeff Slattery told Rotarians that his path to his current position was a little different than the one that most school administrators take.
For example, his first full-time job was in a trade before he decided to become a teacher. And, then after teaching for a while, he was offered an administrative position with Triology Health Systems at one of their Lima facilities.
Later, he moved back to education as the principal at Hicksville High School before becoming Four County’s superintendent a little more than two years ago.
During that time, career education in Ohio has been transitioning to become a vital part of Ohio’s push to make sure workforce development meets the needs of both the community that the school serves as well as the state’s need for a nimble response to employers’ needs.
For example, Slattery explained that Four County Career Center was able to win the state’s largest workforce development grant last year — some $14.7 million.
That grant was awarded to Four County because the application documented the need for expanded facilities, updated equipment and instructors for its welding and electrical programs.
Key to the documentation was the data and support provided by the Defiance, Fulton, Henry and Williams county economic development directors.
As a result, Four County’s campus will expand those programs this spring by constructing more space for student labs and work stations and hiring additional staff.
Once completed, this will allow Four County to accept more students into the welding and electrical programs than their current space allows.
Slattery noted that those are just two of the 30 career programs offered by Four County that have waiting lists. Cosmetology and health care programs also have more students wanting to enroll than the school can accommodate.
Additionally, the superintendent explained that he has staff working off-site at several of its member schools as well as agreements to assist with career education programs outside the four county area and with some area businesses.
All of the agreements are designed to help teach more students and adults the skills that employers need. However, money can be a challenge for career education programs.
For example, as a high school principal he explained teachers and textbooks were the district’s main educational expenditures – and textbooks were only replaced about every six years.
At Four County, the career education instructors need to be experienced and qualified in their trade on the best equipment currently used.
He said, it’s hard to offer a competitive salary to well qualified instructors who work in the private sector on a school teacher’s salary schedule.
Likewise, when career education equipment needs to be replaced or updated, the cost is far more than a textbook adoption.
Fortunately, he said, state funding for career education/workforce development takes some of those costs into account.
Career education today is a lot different than what people once thought of as vocational education.
“There’s a blurring of the difference between what we once thought of as a white collar job and a blue collar job today,” Slattery said. Employers today need and expect more skills from their employees and career education is expected to provide that.
